The present invention relates to an image-forming apparatus which is a composite apparatus having functions, such as a copying function, a facsimile function and a printing function, in which a paper post-treatment device is installed.
As illustrated in FIG. 59, a conventionally-known composite apparatus, which has functions such as a copying function, a facsimile function and a printing function, is provided with a document reading section 1010 for reading a document, an image-forming apparatus main body 1020 serving as a printing means for printing an image on a sheet of paper, and a paper-feed and cassette means 1030 for housing and feeding sheets of paper.
In the composite apparatus having the above-mentioned arrangement, a space is formed below the document reading section 1010 in a manner so as to form a U-letter shape when viewed from the operation face side, an image-forming section 1021 of the image-forming apparatus main body 1020 is formed vertically, and a paper-discharge means 1040 for discharging sheets of paper transported from a paper transport path 1022 of the image-forming apparatus main body 1020 is installed in the above-mentioned space section.
In this manner, since the sheets of printed paper are discharged within the installation plane of the apparatus, it is possible to make the installation area of the apparatus smaller as compared with a case in which the sheets of printed paper are discharged outside of the apparatus main body. In the image-forming apparatus of this type, even when a post-treatment device for carrying out post-treatments such as a stapling process, etc. on sheets of printed paper is attached to the outside of the apparatus main body, it is possible to make the installation area smaller as compared with a case in which the post-treatment device is attached to a conventional image-forming apparatus.
With respect to the image-forming apparatus in which sheets of printed paper are discharged within the installation plane of the apparatus, examples thereof include xe2x80x9cimage-forming apparatusxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 324444/1998 (Tokukaihei 10-324444 (published on Dec. 8, 1998), hereinafter, referred to as reference 1) and xe2x80x9cimage-forming apparatusxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 157725/1999 (Tokukaihei 11-157725 (published on Jun. 15, 1999), hereinafter, referred to as reference 2).
As illustrated in FIG. 60, the image-forming apparatus disclosed in reference 1 has an arrangement in which a paper post-treatment device 1050 is placed on the side face of the image-forming apparatus main body 1020. To this paper post-treatment device 1050, sheets of paper from the image-forming apparatus main body 1020 are transported by a relay transporting means 1060 installed in the paper-discharge means 1040 (space section) formed below the document-reading section 1010.
Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 61, the image-forming apparatus disclosed in reference 2 also has the same arrangement in which to the paper post-treatment device 1050 placed on the side face of the image-forming apparatus main body 1020, sheets of paper from the image-forming apparatus main body 1020 are transported by a relay transporting means 1060 installed in the paper-discharge means 1040 (space section) formed below the document-reading section 1010.
In both of the above-mentioned image-forming apparatuses disclosed by reference 1 and reference 2, in the case when the paper post-treatment device 1050 is not used, sheets of paper are discharged onto the top surface 1060a of the relay transport means 1060. Here, in the case of reference 1, as illustrated in FIG. 60, sheets of paper can be discharged not only to the top surface 1060a of the relay transport means 1060, but also to a space section formed below the relay transport means 1060, by shifting the relay transport means 1060 in an up and down direction.
However, in the image-forming apparatuses disclosed in reference 1 and reference 2, in the event of a paper jam inside the relay transport means 1060 when the paper post-treatment device 1050 is being used, if there is any sheet of paper on the relay transport means 1060, the sheet of paper is removed, and after opening the top face 1060a of the relay transport means 1060, the sheet of paper causing the jam has to be removed.
In this manner, in the image-forming apparatuses disclosed in reference 1 and reference 2, in the event of a paper jam inside the relay transport means 1060, if any sheet of paper has been discharged on the top face 1060a of the relay transport means 1060, the sheet of paper needs to be removed so as to clear the top face of the relay transport means 1060, and the surface is then opened, and the sheet of paper causing the jam has to be removed. The resulting problems are that time consuming tasks are required to carry out the jam treatment and that there is subsequent degradation in the maintenance property of the apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 62 showing a cross-sectional structure in the vicinity of a position where a stapling process is carried out, an explanation will be given of an operational example of the paper post-treatment device having the above-mentioned structure, also by reference to a flow chart in FIG. 63. In FIG. 63, first, when a request for printing is given at step S101, a judgment is made as to whether or not the stapling process is selected at step S102. If the. stapling process is not selected, then a printing process is carried out at step S113, and the sheet of paper is discharged through an escape transport path at S114, thereby completing the operation.
In contrast, if the stapling process is selected at step S102, then the sequence proceeds to step S103. In FIG. 62, a stopper 1102 for adjusting the leading edge of a sheet of paper is rotatably attached to the top of an adjustment tray 1101 on the downstream side, and at step S103, a judgment is made as to whether or not the stopper 1102 is in the home position. Here, it is supposed that the home position of the stopper 1102 is set to its up-right state, that is, a state capable of paper-leading edge adjustment. If it is not in the home position, then the sequence proceeds to step S104 where the stopper 1102 is allowed to pivot to the up-right state, that is, to the home position. When the stopper 1102 is in the home position, the sequence proceeds to step S105, thereby carrying out a printing process.
When the sheet of printed paper has been transported to the adjustment tray 1101, the feed roller, not shown, transports the sheet of printed paper until it has come into contact with the stopper 1102 so that the leading edge of the sheet of paper is adjusted. Then, the adjustment of the sheet of paper in the width direction is carried out by using the width adjustment guide, not shown, while the sheet of paper is seized by paper leading-edge seize levers 1106 from above so as to correct the curl of the sheet. The processes of steps S105 and S106 are repeated with respect to sheets of paper corresponding to the number of sheets that has been requested for the stapling process, and upon completion of the adjustment of the predetermined number of sheets at step S107, a staple unit 1103 carries out the stapling process on the set of sheets of paper at step S108.
Next, at step S109, as illustrated in FIG. 62, the transport path is opened by rotating the stopper 1102 so as to fall in the horizontal direction. Then, at step S110, after a driven roller 1105 placed above a semi-circular send-out roller 1104 has been made in contact with the set of sheets of paper, the send-out roller 1104 is driven to rotate at step S111 so that the set of sheets of paper is discharged while being sandwiched between the send-out roller 1104 and the driven roller 1105.
At step S112, a judgment is made as to whether or not the next stapling process is requested, and if it is requested, the processes from step S103 to step S111 are repeated, and if not requested, the operation is completed.
Moreover, with respect to the paper post-treatment device, one example is given by xe2x80x9csheet post-treatment devicexe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2583594 (published on Jun. 4, 1990, hereinafter, referred to as reference 3) In this sheet post-treatment device, sheets of printed paper that have been received are partially discharged diagonally upward from a miniaturized adjustment tray so that the sheets of paper are stored and adjusted in a bridging manner between an adjustment tray and a paper stack section. After having been stapled, the portion of the set of sheets of paper located on the adjustment tray is pushed toward the paper stack section, thereby completing the post-treatment.
In the sheet post-treatment device shown in FIG. 62, however, those members for adjusting the leading edge of sheets of paper, such as the stopper 1102, and those transporting members for transporting the set of sheets of paper after having been stapled, such as the send-out roller 1104 and the driven roller 1105, are installed in a separate manner. The resulting problems are that there are a number of members that have to be controlled individually and that the installation positions of the respective members are closely located, which results in a complex structure.
For example, at the time of a stapling process, in addition to a mechanism for controlling the stopper 1102 so as to shift it to the home position, the following mechanisms are required: a clutch mechanism for controlling the send-out roller 1104 to stop rotating and a mechanism for allowing the driven roller 1105 to retreat so as not to interrupt the adjustment process of the sheets of paper. In particular, since the semi-circular roller is used as the send-out roller 1104, this needs to retreat outside the adjustment tray 1101 with the flat surface facing up, as illustrated in FIG. 62, during the stapling process. Moreover, after the stapling process, the above-mentioned controlling mechanisms are individually used so that the stopper 1102 is allowed to fall, the driven roller 1105 is shifted toward the send-out roller 1104 side, and the send-out roller 1104 is rotatively driven.
In order to reduce one of the independent controlling mechanism in an attempt to simplify the structure, for example, supposing that the driven roller 1105 is omitted, the pressure to the set of sheets of paper from above is only applied by the paper leading-edge seize lever 1106. As described earlier, since the paper leading-edge seize lever 1106 is used so as to correct the curl of sheets of paper at the time of the leading-edge adjusting, it is not possible to apply a great load onto the paper leading-edge seize lever 1106 because of its purpose for correcting the irregularity in the leading edge-of sheets of paper.
In the case when, after the stapling process, a set of several or several tens of sheets of paper is transported toward the paper-discharging side, resistance due to its own gravity is considerably great, with the result that unless the transporting force of the send-out roller 1104 is increased sufficiently, a paper jam tends to occur due to slipping. In other words, it is not possible to omit the driven roller 1105 from this structure, as it is.
Still another problem is that the application of the semi-circular roller as the send-out roller 1104 makes the transport distance of the set of sheets of paper shorter. A paper-discharge roller and a paper-discharge tray are installed right after the downstream side of the staple unit 1103, and the set of sheets of paper needs to reach these members within one rotation of the send-out roller 1104. However, the distance that is provided by the semi-circular roller is only the length of the circular arc portion of the semi-circular roller that is allowed to protrude from the adjustment tray 1101 at the time of rotation.
Therefore, there are only limited positions in which the paper-discharge roller and paper-discharge tray can be placed, causing degradation in the degree of freedom in designing. Moreover, in the case when a long distance is required from the staple unit 1103 to the paper-discharge roller and the paper-discharge tray, a transport roller needs to be added in between, resulting in high costs.
The present invention relates to an image-forming apparatus which has a paper-discharge device installed on the same installation plane of the apparatus main body, and its objective is to provide an image-forming apparatus which allows the paper-discharge device to be used effectively even when a post-treatment device has been attached, and can reduce the installation area of the apparatus as a whole.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the image-forming apparatus of the present invention, which is provided with a document reading section for reading image information from a document, an image-forming section for forming an image on a sheet of paper based upon the image information of the document read by the document reading section, and a space section formed below the document reading section, which accommodates the image-forming section and serves as a discharge section to which the sheet of paper bearing the image formed in the image-forming section is discharged, is further provided with a paper post-treatment section that subjects the sheet of paper bearing the image to post-treatments, such as an adjustment process and a stapling process, in a virtually horizontal state, and that is placed between the document reading section and the space section.
In accordance with this invention, the paper post-treatment section is placed between the document reading section and the space section, that is, the space used for paper post-treatments is formed on the installation plane of the image-forming apparatus. Consequently, since the installation area of the image-forming apparatus including the paper post-treatment section is reduced, it becomes possible to provide a greater degree of freedom in installing the image-forming apparatus.
Moreover, in the paper post-treatment section, the post-treatments, such as an adjustment process and a stapling process for sheets of paper bearing images, are carried out in a virtually horizontal state; therefore, it is possible to carry out the post-treatments such as an adjustment process and a stapling process for sheets of paper at the same position. Thus, it is possible to prevent deformation in the set of sheets of paper and disturbance in the adjustment of the sheets of paper that tend to occur upon transporting the set of adjusted sheets of paper to a stapling position. Consequently, it becomes possible to positively carry out the post-treatment such as the stapling process in a well-adjusted state of the set of sheets of paper.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the image-forming apparatus of the present invention, which is provided with a document reading section for reading image information from a document, an image-forming section for forming an image on a sheet of paper based upon the image information of the document read by the document reading section, a paper post-treatment section that is attached to the apparatus main body including the image-forming section and that subjects the sheet of paper bearing the image to post-treatments, such as an adjustment process and a stapling process, is further provided with a space section formed below the document reading section, which is surrounded by peripheral walls of the apparatus main body, and serves as a discharge section for discharging the sheet of paper bearing the image formed in the image-forming section, and a relay transport path for transporting the sheet of paper from the image-forming section to the paper post-treatment section, which is installed between the document reading section and the space section.
In this manner, the space section, which is surrounded by peripheral walls of the apparatus main body constituted by the document reading section and the image-forming section, is formed below the document reading section so as to serve as a discharge section for discharging the sheet of paper bearing the image formed in the image-forming section, and a relay transport path for transporting the sheet of paper from the image-forming section to the paper post-treatment section is installed between the document reading section and the space section. In this arrangement, the relay transport path can be used in various ways.
For example, the relay transport path is allowed to accommodate sheets of paper bearing images formed on one side thereof in the image-forming section, and a switch back mechanism, which again transports the sheets of paper to the image-forming section so as to form images on the other side bearing no images, may be installed.
With this arrangement, it is not necessary to install a member having a switch back function for the double-sided printing process in a separated manner.
Moreover, the relay transport path may be installed so as to be openable downward in a direction perpendicular to the paper transporting direction at the end portion serving as a fulcrum on the side opposite to the face of the apparatus to which the operator attends.
With this arrangement, even in the event of a trouble in which a sheet of paper is stuck in the relay transport path, that is, a paper jam, the relay transport path is opened to face the operator on the operation face side so that the jam treatment can be easily carried out.
Furthermore, a jam detection means for detecting a paper jam in the relay transport path may be installed in the relay transport path.
Moreover, the relay transport path may be provided as a unit part that is detachably attached to the apparatus main body.
With this arrangement, in the case when the paper post-treatment section is not used, the relay transport path can be removed, and the maintenance is carried out by removing the relay transport path so that it becomes possible to improve the maintenance efficiency of the entire apparatus.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a paper post-treatment device in which, among those members constituting the paper leading-edge adjusting mechanism and those members constituting the paper-set transporting mechanism after the post-treatment process, it is possible to reduce the number of those members that need to be controlled independently, and consequently to simplify the mechanism, while maintaining a high transporting force with respect to the sheet of paper after having been subjected to the post-treatment process. Moreover, in addition to the above-mentioned objective, still another objective of the present invention is to provide a paper post-treatment device which can sufficiently maintain the transport distance with respect to the set of sheets of paper having been post-treated.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the paper post-treatment apparatus, which adjusts a plurality of sheets of paper transported thereto, and sends them out as a set of sheets of paper, is provided with a leading-edge adjusting transport device that is constituted by a leading-edge adjusting section which stops at a predetermined position to block the transport path, thereby arranging the leading edges of a plurality of sheets of paper being transported, and a transport section which also serves as at least one portion of a transport means for transporting a set of sheets of paper toward the downstream side, and is allowed to contact the set of sheets of paper in place of the leading-edge adjusting section when the leading-edge adjusting section has been shifted from the predetermined position so as to open the transport path, thereby allowing the transport means to shift to a state ready for transportation, the reading-edge adjusting section and the transporting section being integrally formed thereon.
In the above-mentioned invention, the leading-edge adjusting section, which exerts the leading-edge adjusting function before the post-treatment such as a stapling process and a punching process with respect to the sheets of paper transported thereto, and the transport section, which exerts at least one of the transporting functions for transporting the set of sheets of paper that have been post-treated toward the downstream side, are integrally formed into one member, that is, the leading-edge adjusting transport device.
When the leading-edge adjusting transport device carries out the leading-edge adjusting process for a plurality of sheets of paper, the leading-edge adjusting section is stopped at the predetermined position so as to block the transport path, thereby allowing the leading-edges of the sheets of paper to come into contact with the leading-edge adjusting section. In this state, an adjusting process in the width direction of sheets of paper is carried out by a certain means so that the sheets of paper are adjusted into a set of sheets of paper. The above-mentioned post treatments are carried out in this state. When the leading-edge adjusting section has been shifted from the predetermined position so as to open the transport path with the sheets of paper being adjusted, the transport section is allowed to contact the set of sheets of paper in place of the leading-edge adjusting section. The transport section also serves as at least one portion of a transport means for transporting a set of sheets of paper toward the downstream side, and upon contacting the set of sheets of paper, allows the transport means to shift to a state ready for transportation.
Therefore, different from conventional methods in which the leading-edge adjusting process and the transition process for getting ready for the transportation are controlled in a separated manner, the two processes can be easily controlled by a sequential controlling operation of one control mechanism.
Moreover, in the case when the transport section is provided as a roller, another roller, etc., may be installed so as to sandwich the set of sheets of paper in a paired state with the transport section upon contacting the face of the set of sheets of paper. In other words, the application of a pair of rollers as the transport means makes it possible to ensure a higher transporting force easily.
Consequently, it is possible to provide a paper post-treatment device in which, among those members constituting the paper leading-edge adjusting mechanism and those members constituting the paper-set transporting mechanism after the post-treatment process, it is possible to reduce the number of those members that need to be controlled independently, and consequently to simplify the mechanism, while maintaining a high transporting force with respect to the sheet of paper after having been post-treated.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.